Gonna build a Solidworks Rig From Scratch 1

[overkill4]

Hi All,

So I'm going to take the video gamers route and build my computer from scratch. I got tired of trying to "customize" my computer online and decided if I really wanted to get what I wanted I'd have to build it myself.

I'll be posting my endeavor in this forum since the end goal is an excellent scalable Solidworks machine.

Please feel free to contribute your two cents, but don't be offended if I don't take it.

The components that I will need to buy are.

1) Tower
2) Nvidia Quadro Video Card/Cards??
3) Motherboard and CPU
4) 1 Hard Drive, to run windows and applications off of. I already have 2 500GB drives to use as archives.

I'm going to transfer all of my peripherals and bells and whistles off of my current computer so what I'm looking for is really just the guts.

Now some questions.

1) Should the tower and motherboard be big enough to eventually expand to a triple SLI configuration. Can Solidworks even deal with 3 graphics cards.

2) Should I update the ram. I have 4Gb so do I need to? I don't deal with massive assemblies but I do do lots of rendering work. Does Solidworks really take advantage of Ram speed, or just the quantity.

Any other thoughts or experiences will be appreciated.

Cheers

60% of the time, it works every time.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Anna Woods spreadsheet at

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pz7wTpIkC7LA28ybEyxyTPw

should be helpful in deciding which components might be suitable.

More information can be found under the Pages section at

http://www.solidmuse.com/

Go to the online section at

http://www.xicomputer.com/products/welcome.asp?Content=Intel2

and build one to suit your budget and then search for the components from discount stores.

 

[overkill4]

Thanks Cor. Always great tips.

I checked out XI but really didn't like the look of their towers.

It also wasn't giving me Quadro CAD cards. Just the Quadro CX cards which I believe are geared for Photoshop and Graphic art. Am I wrong about that?

60% of the time, it works every time.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

I don't know where you were looking but

http://www.xicomputer.com/products/Configure.asp?model=mtowersp4&configid=

and

http://www.xicomputer.com/products/Configure.asp?model=mtowerxeon&configid=

show quite a few cards suitable for SW.

As for the "look of their towers" ... who cares what they look like. The tower will probably be pushed under a desk. How it works is what matters.

 

[MikeHalloran]

Leave the bells and whistles on your old computer.

Solidworks runs _much_ better on a computer that's not also running MS Outlook, MSIE, Picasa, and whatever administrivia is demanded in your environment. Offload to your old computer (or just prevent startup of) anything that isn't directly needed to run SW.





Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Any program runs better on a dedicated machine without any other software or devices to interfere with it ... even especially Windows.

 

[SnowCrash]

Any program runs better on a dedicated machine without any other software or devices to interfere with it ... even especially Windows

"The package said, 'Windows XT or better' so I installed it using Linux"

--
Hardie "Crashj" Johnson
SW 2008 SP4
Nvidia Quadro FX 1000
AMD Athalon 1.8 GHz 2 Gig RAM

 

[overkill4]

I was in one of the customize build areas. Maybe I ventured into a gaming tower somehow.

By bells and whistles I merely meant keyboard and mouse etc. And Outlook express will never run on any machine I own, work machine or not.

And true looks don't matter but this tower won't be hidden it will be in my living room, and my fiance would have something to say about a big black ugly box next to the couch.

Thanks for the replies.





60% of the time, it works every time.

 

[Theophilus]

What, are you an industrial designer or something? Why, indeed, would an engineer give a damn what the case looked like? ;-)

I'm running a custom-built system with a nice, quiet Antec case (big, slow fans) now, and it jams (had a lot of help from Stefan in specifying the bits and pieces). I use the Core 2 Duo E8400 chip--cheap and fast.

Previously I've had a couple of Xi machines. Ask them to use a different case--they might do it, as long as they have little risk in heat-management issues and the like. I've found those machines to be (by far) the best value available in pre-packaged workstations.

The other way to do it is simply to check out a set of system specs offered by someone like Xi and purchase the bits yourself from newegg.com (or wherever). Tweak what you like at your own risk when deviating from the punchlist.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Theo,

Did you ever run Anna's benchmarks on your new rig?

 

[Theophilus]

Yeah, that's the one that scored 89 seconds--I'm not sure if she's posted the new results lately. Aparently, I can overclock this chip from 3.0GHz to 4.0GHz with decent stability (if I can keep it cool).

Renders very fast, was great for a recent animation project (took seven-hour animation renders down to about three hours since my last Xi box). Nice!



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.

 

[gwubs]

Regarding RAM - if you use 4 GB or more you need XP 64 bit...

 

[rfus]

I've had both sides of my Xi case for the last 4 months.

newegg? tiger? the last thing i'd be thinking about is the case.

Just remember, you are your own IT guy. Not that buying a system off dell won't give you problems. I had a Mobo go bad, a HD failure, and then ended up replacing the mobo completely. Makes getting work done a pain in the butt.

get a liquid cooled board. 775 socket. nvidia quadro 570, 1700, or 3700. ddr3 if you can pay for it. pick the right power supply. dvdrw. 10000 rpm is you can't afford solid state. raid1. fastest processor you can buy but up to you on core2 vs quad on what else you are doing at the same time. If you are using sw all the time, i think its a shame to watch those cores idle. rendering, its another story. pick the rest of the bells and whistle you need after you build the system

I have been working on Windows 7 and love the way it manages my hardware. such a treat as compared to XP x64

rfus

 

[rfus]

meant both sides off. I did get clear ones with pretty led fans though.

 

[Theophilus]

Yeah, I've still got my original Xi box on the other side of the desk. Might have to put Linux on it for a free education. I'd sold it (cheap) to a client, but then something went wrong (maybe the mother board--haven't messed with it yet) so I swapped it for my second Xi box since I've got this home-built system now. Client's happy. I put in quieter, LED fans on that box. Groooovy!

rfus, sure, the top-of-the-line processor is nice, but the second or third in line is nearly always a much better value. I'd recommend getting the best bang/buck ratio, and simply upgrade the whole system (or slow components) a minimum of every two years. The hard drive will pack up with Windows sludge-ware anyway by then, so you might as well reformat a new system instead of the old.

I don't like Dell anymore because of the crap-ware they pack onto their systems (might be different with "business" grad stuff). Why do that? I've got two laptops that struggle about a minute to open Firefox. Maybe the free education with Linux has an appointment with one of those.

Windows 7 looks quite promising. I'm eager to try it out. I'm due for a new system in about 11 months, so that may be good timing. Would be great to have a 64-bit OS these days.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.

 

[JMarv]

Overkill4,

What mobo and processor are you considering?

Jeff,

What mobo are you using with the E8400 that you ran the benchmark on? Do you have a preference on mother board brands?

I've been in the process of "considering" building my own rig for home use. I've already decided on the E8400 based on your previous advice, but wondered what your thoughts on motherboards were. Are there particular brands/chipsets that you would recomend/avoid?

Joe
SW Office 2008 SP5.0
P4 3.0Ghz 3GB
ATI FireGL X1

 

[Theophilus]

I'm using a Gigabyte board:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128086

I love it. Lots of nice details included with the stuff included in the box, plus the way the board is laid out. Seems like the connectors are of higher quality than a DFI board I tried first. So if I were shopping for another board now, I'd look for something by Gigabyte. (I've had board failures with Asus in the past--most annoying thing ever trying to track down.)

Consider something a tad faster than the E8400 now. I'd imagine you could get a better value now--a year after I built this system--with a faster chip.



Jeff Mowry

http://www.industrialdesignhaus.com

A people governed by fear cannot value freedom.

 

[rfus]

Theo,

I agree with you on the bang for buck ratio. I guess I meant get the best processor you can AFFORD to buy. I made this mistake on the fastest AMD 939 in early 06.

rfus

 

[overkill4]

Hi All,

Thanks for all the great discussion.

I'm going to use 64bit of course so ram is no limit.

I was thinking of an Nvidia board that could eventually run in a triple-sli configuration. Hopefully SW can eventually take advantage of that.

As far as CPU goes, should I go quad core or the new i7 chip??? Most of my work is just modeling and rendering. Not a whole lot of large assemblies. But who knows what the next contract may hold.

But I agree usually breaking the bank for that extra .2 Ghz on a processor usually isn't worth it.

Also I'm in Vancouver, Canada where our dollars is weak as h$$%, so Xi isn't looking as appealing. Tiger direct.ca does have base kits you can buy but it looks like you can't customize them.


60% of the time, it works every time.

 

[overkill4]

This motherboard.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_nforce_790i_ultra_sli_us.html

60% of the time, it works every time.